The Washington Post: After years of neglect, bianco vermouth, “the third member of the vermouth family,” is getting some attention in the United States. — Robert Simonson

Bloomberg Businessweek: Go figure. Starbucks has not a single outlet in Italy, though it has more than 13,000 across the world, including dozens in Europe. Yet Howard Schultz, the company’s head, has written that he was inspired with the very idea for the Starbucks experience in Italy. Is Starbucks afraid to go there because it’s the summit of coffee culture, and therefore any failure would be a reputational risk? — Glenn Collins

City Room: New York’s Roman Catholic archbishop, Timothy Dolan, arrived from Milwaukee two years ago professing his love for beer, brats and Velveeta. But back in Rome, where he spent much of his career, the soon-to-be cardinal sheds that image (if not the pounds) and reveals a fluency in la cucina Romana. — Patrick Farrell

Tasting Table: After the rococo excesses of the mixology boom, at least a few bartenders are inclined to get back to basics. — Jeff Gordinier

The Village Voice: The United States and the European Union move to align conflicting organic-food policies that have hindered trade. Could mean “a flood of new chocolate, olive oil, and cheese from Europe.” — Patrick Farrell

The Economist: That land of lager louts and beer-belly pride — Britain — is undergoing a subtle but startling transformation: beer is getting weaker. Customers are rejecting traditional strong continental-style lagers in favor of 2.8 percent brews; and Budweiser, Beck’s and Cobra are cutting alcohol content to 4.8 percent from 5 percent, in a time when alcohol-related hospital visits in England cost the National Health Service 3 billion pounds a year. — Glenn Collins

Supermarket News: More and more men seem to be hitting the supermarket. — Jeff Gordinier

The New York Post: Quoting unnamed sources, the Post says the Food Network has dropped the dessert chef Anne Thornton after discovering that she lifted recipes from Martha Stewart, Ina Garten and others. — Patrick Farrell

Food and Wine: For those readers who remember our profile of the urban fisherman and Cooking Channel star Ben Sargent from last year, we have news to report: The man has finally caught a snakehead. — Jeff Gordinier

NPR: Snickers is about to lose some of its smirk. Mars is reducing the size of its candy bars to bring them to, or under, 250 calories. — Patrick Farrell